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My most memorable book...sharing experiences

MufuOnifadeisa dramatic painter. His sense of style is unique when he handles his brush on canvas. An
author of books and producer of several short plays, Onifade shares his
experience of the memories of a book, Olowolaiyemoby Femi Jeboda, which heread while in his second year in high school.

Olowolaiyemois a book written in Yoruba
language, with core valuesfound in
African societies. I dare to say that it remains the most memorable book that I
have read. As elementary as it may have seemed, it was written with loads of
moral lessons embedded in it for people to gain from, besides the entertainment
that it shares.

The story is centred on a young man who was continuously looking for shortcuts to
success in life, and he did quite a lot of things in his race to succeed. At
some point, he became an apprentice to somebody.

The
young man went ahead to do so many other things that could make him achieve
success but, when he did not see his desire of becoming wealthy materialize, he
joined a group of magicians who would make their performances by using a knife
to cut around themselvesbut would still
not be hurt.

The young man in question was the one who
usually held the knives that were used for the group’s magical arts, and he
particularly held the special knife (a blunt knife) that was used by the head
of the magicians.

However, on this day that the unfortunate
incident happened, the young man gave the lead magician a knife that was notthe
special knife he was used to. When the magician used the sharp knife,
of-course there was trouble as he succeeded in ripping open his stomach.

The
young man who always desired quick riches was arrested alongside other people
and he was taken away, charged to court and thrown into jail. While in jail he realised that he
had to stop, think and live life as a normal person. He thought to himself that
indeed it was time he stopped looking for shortcuts.

When this ambitious young man got out of
prison, he went straight to farming. This was actually the last chapter of the
book which was titled ‘ ise logun ise’.
The man became rich from proceeds of his
farm produce and he became a happy person.

Memories
of this book have remained with me, and the lessons I learned from the book helped
me to always work with a sense of dedication and hard work. After reading this
book, I realised that I always looked out for lessons that any other book has
to give. And I must be bold to say that the book Olowolaiyemo is a book of wisdom, which shares with its
readers the direction to follow in life.